


the god, the myth, the legend

by kodzukens



Series: the god, the myth, the legend [1]
Category: TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ancient Greek Religion & Lore Fusion, Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, M/M, beomgyu is hermes, soobin is just a broke college kid and a hot mess, they travel the world together at some point
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-15 01:20:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29925747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kodzukens/pseuds/kodzukens
Summary: In the eyes of the general population, this is a pretty cool setting to find yourself in, but Soobin finds it plain weird to think that a god born millennials ago, older than all of Soobin’s ancestors, would just saunter into a community college and get wasted on college parties till they would no longer be able to form coherent sentences or thoughts.“So, you’re essentially jobless and that’s why you’re here?”Beomgyu, Soobin’s roommate, best friend of 3 years, who he now knows also goes by Hermes, and also alleged Legal Management student, narrows his eyes at him.“I tell you I’m a literal god, and that’s what you say to me?”(alt: beomgyu is soobin's roommate who happens to be hermes, god of messengers and everything cool.)
Relationships: Choi Beomgyu/Choi Soobin
Series: the god, the myth, the legend [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2203911
Comments: 18
Kudos: 70





	the god, the myth, the legend

**Author's Note:**

> it sorta fits doesnt it

In the eyes of the general population, this is a pretty cool setting to find yourself in, but Soobin finds it plain weird to think that a god born millennials ago, older than all of Soobin’s ancestors, would just saunter into a community college and get wasted on college parties till they would no longer be able to form coherent sentences or thoughts.

“So, you’re essentially jobless and that’s why you’re here?” 

Beomgyu, Soobin’s roommate, best friend of 3 years, who he now knows also goes by Hermes, and also alleged Legal Management student, narrows his eyes at him. 

“I tell you I’m a literal god, and that’s what you say to me?” 

**-**

Their first meeting was simple, the simplest of first meetings, so simple and bland that Soobin had to rack his brain for the event. 

(“By mortal terms, it’s pretty simple,” Beomgyu tells him, nonchalantly sipping on his milkshake. “I remember when I met my lil bro, Dionysus. He was still a growing baby, sewed onto Lord Zeus's testicles because his mom was blown into smithereens while he was still in the womb.”)

Second year into his college career, Beomgyu came into Soobin’s life and his dorm, a radiant and bright presence that overwhelmed him the first time upon he set his eyes on him. A wide grin, a glint in his eyes, and a suitcase plastered with stickers of tortoise.

“Hey,” Beomgyu had greeted him, an outstretched hand out. “Choi Beomgyu, first year in Legal Management. Nice sweater, by the way." 

Soobin had looked down on his Pokémon printed sweater, then back at Beomgyu. 

"Ah," he had said. "Nice to meet you too."

**-**

There isn't much of a difference in Choi Beomgyu, his roommate, and Choi Beomgyu, Lord Hermes himself. 

He still does the dishes when it's his turn, cleans the dorm when Soobin is away or passed out from exams season, and he always never forgets to water their succulent even when they both know there's minimal need for succulents to have water.

They're still very much, Soobin and Beomgyu, roommates of the year.

Soobin comes to their dorm to feast his eyes on Beomgyu, down on their tiny green couch, limbs sprawled over, and eyes focused on the television playing _Jeopardy_ for unironic reasons. 

It's not an unfamiliar sight by any means. Soobin's used to coming home to this, to Beomgyu mouthing the answers, to him humming contentedly when his answer is right. 

The only difference today is that there are winged sandals flying across their living room and Soobin doesn't know what to think. 

Beomgyu's eyes flit over to him, bored eyes flashing to excitement. He sits up, grins at him, and spreads out his arms, "Hey." 

Soobin doesn't take the offer, only gapes at the winged sandals buzzing around the room.

The god seems to take note of the look on his face, and his lips part. 

"Oh. Sorry." Beomgyu looks sheepish. "Just thought it would be fun to have company." 

Soobin cocks an eyebrow, "With sandals?"

" _Talaria_ ," Beomgyu says with a wiggle of his finger. He takes it away the second Soobin attempts at a bite. "I figured they were getting a bit dusty in the old box so I finally took them out."

Soobin doesn't ask about the fact that he could easily keep the dust off with one snap of his fingers. He's witnessed Beomgyu clean the dishes with a snap of his finger, and they all became sparkling clean.

But, he supposes gods like a bit of effort every once in a while, or perhaps it's just Beomgyu, unconventional in both mortal and godly ways.

So he keeps mum, watches as the winged shoes chase each other at the speed of light, almost knocking off their lamps and other _very_ fragile pieces of furniture. 

"Cool." 

Is all Soobin supplies, but the grin on Beomgyu's face widens, and he opens his arms once again.

And this time, Soobin gladly falls into them, warm in the arms of his roommate, to the television playing _Jeopardy,_ and to the new presence of the Talaria flying around the room.

**-**

For Soobin to decide that love was the word to describe how he felt for Beomgyu, it wasn't a sudden realization for him to mull over. It was just something that made sense. 

In his fourth year, he had emerged from their bedroom, a good 48 hour nap after finals, and straight into their kitchen where the sweet smell of hot blueberry muffins were being baked. He'd recognize that smell anywhere.

Beomgyu had turned to his direction, donning a baby blue headband and apron with a ridiculous amount of frills, and he grinned, flashed his perfect set of white teeth.

"Someone's finally up," he said, a twinkle in his eyes. "Had good dreams that you didn't leave bed for 2 days?"

And at the mention of a dream, fragments of his came crashing into him: him finally earning himself his long awaited break after the graduation ceremony, Yeonjun turning into a massive cat with a cowboy hat that nibbled on the magma inside volcanoes as if it were a bowl of warm milk, Taehyun herding sheep with Kai as Lightning McQueen, and Beomgyu simply playing _Smooth Criminal_ on the lyre in an anime expo.

(Months after that, after extensive research done, Soobin would ask Beomgyu, "Wait, did you give me that dream?"

"Don't be silly, Soobin. Morpheus is the god of dreams," Beomgyu would answer matter-of-factly. "I just delivered them to you.")

Soobin hummed thoughtfully, "Yeah, I guess."

Mirth gleamed in Beomgyu's eyes, always bright and stark everywhere he goes. 

"Well, I made you blueberry muffins," Beomgyu told him, a flourish of hand to gesture at their counter, where a fresh tray of blueberry muffin lay atop, soft steam of heat escaping it and the delicious fragrance of bread and blueberries together was more than enough to call out the drool in Soobin's mouth.

"Have I ever told you I love you, Choi Beomgyu?" Soobin glanced up at him, mouth full of muffins. 

Beomgyu had faltered. He blinked up at him before he scoffed, but Soobin didn't miss the curl of his lips, "Please, I heard you say that to the milkman yesterday."

"Well, I still love you," Soobin grinned up at him. "But, curious --- Why the sudden Masterchef Junior in our kitchen?"

Beomgyu gave him an indignant huff, along with a throw of a crumpled tissue paper at his direction. "All this work to celebrate my roommate still breathing after his exams, and the thanks I get is getting called Masterchef Junior? How dastardly!"

A smile was Soobin's best answer.

And this kind of love was days, months, and years spent growing, like a small plant by one's windowsill, biding their time, slowly creeping up inside the soil, and it just hits: 

You are in love.

And with how Beomgyu was seated in front of him, in that ridiculous headband and apron that Soobin knew only he could ever pull off, hands picking at one of the blueberry muffins, laughing at whatever Gordon Ramsay had said in national television again --- Soobin decided that it isn't a bad thing at all.

**-**

It should be utterly stupid. It _is_ utterly stupid but Soobin agreed to this with no qualms whatsoever, more so out of curiosity and also because Beomgyu had been holding his hand, so he shouldn't be saying anything.

"Won't people look at us weird though?" 

Soobin frowns, as they exit their dorm building, Beomgyu's winged sandals following them suit in excited whirls of flight.

"We'll be fine." Beomgyu waves him off, an assured smile on his face. "You have the god of _everything great in life_ by your side! We don't have to worry about anything!"

Soobin presses his lips, doesn't mention that thievery is also one of the god's specialties, and that he considers himself to be the god of cheeseburgers. 

And so, he exhales an exasperated yet fond breath that only Beomguu could pull from him.

"Y'know, it's been a while since they went out for a walk." 

Beomgyu is full of chatters when they leave the dorm building. True to his words, no one spares the winged sandals a single glance, only cheerfuls greetings in their ways as they pass. 

"That's why they're all jittery," Beomgyu tells him. "They'll calm down soon so you don't have to worry about them breaking things in our dorm soon." 

"I don't mind."

Soobin says it simply, as he watches the sandals circle each other mid-air, loud flaps of their wings still audible in Soobin's ears even as they flutter off in a farther direction, almost like giggles.

"Really?" Beomgyu's eyes are gleaming. "Then we'll walk them twice a week, they really love to get some air in the wings, y'know?"

Soobin does not know that nor does he understand how winged sandals work, but he hums in affirmation anyway, and focuses on the afternoon breeze passing by them, and on the sound of Beomgyu's voice filling him in.

**-**

Beomgyu's confession had happened in the early morning, when Soobin, in all his sleep deprived form from doing his senior thesis, had almost passed out while cooking noodles and nearly burned down the kitchen. 

Had it not been for Beomgyu, who went for a quick bathroom break from gaming and sighed upon the sight of his roommate about to submerge himself in broth, Soobin is sure he would be in the Underworld right now, having to endure Lord Hades himself cackling at him drowning in noodle soup.

Now fully awake, he'd been seated on Beomgyu's side of the bed, blinking as his roommate pats his face clean with a wet cloth. 

"You should probably sleep, y'know," Beomgyu mumbled. "You're barely functioning." 

Soobin yawned, finally felt the lethargy catching up now, "When was I ever functional?"

Beomgyu rolled his eyes. 

"I'll wake you up," he said. "I'll give you 3 hours --- at _most_." 

The cloth lightly grazed over Soobin's cheek, lightly and cold to the touch. Not enough to wake him up, but even in his bleariness, he could still focus on Beomgyu in front of him, dark eyes on him and lips pressed tightly in focus.

God, he was so pretty. 

He wanted to say that, has always wanted to say that, but fear is unyielding, always crept up in and out of his system, knows no bounds.

It's been three years, of friendship, of shared inside jokes and laughter inside their little world in this little dorm. 

"I'm finally graduating."

It tumbled out of Soobin's lips, only a low whisper, but Beomgyu had glanced up at him, through his long lashes, and a smile broke out on his face.

"Yeah, you are," Beomgyu said. "Not long till you say ' _sayonara'_ and burn this place to the ground."

"I'm gonna miss this," Soobin laughed, and quickly retracted with a scrunch of his nose, "Of course, not really --- I'd rather lick the toilet seat than relive this whole circus again. But what I mean is ---"

And he'd been sure Beomgyu has a world of his own, vast and full of adventures he'd want to explore. 

Soobin wanted to know where their own little one would fit in after he would leave. 

Beomgyu had interrupted him, voice small, in that way that let Soobin know he was breaking himself open, let himself be known. 

"Soobin, I have to tell you something," he had said, eyes diverted to anywhere but Soobin's. His fingers were fumbling with each other, uncharacteristically nervous. "Promise me you won't freak out."

("Why were _you_ the one nervous?" Soobin would come to ask Beomgyu days after. "You're the one who could smite me into dust, y'know!")

Soobin, with a million other thoughts buzzing and chasing each other in his mind, had gulped. 

"Of course," he told Beomgyu, but also to steel himself for what was about to happen. "Anything, Beomgyu, you know ---"

"Shush."

Beomgyu shot him a sharp look. _Just watch._

Soobin nodded, and Beomgyu rolled his eyes, lips still pressed into a grimace but still a sign he was contented. 

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and a bronze light --- impossible to have been made by mankind --- began to wrap around him, around them, and it bathed their tiny room in its heavenly glow, blinding and absolutely enchanting that Soobin couldn't keep his eyes off of it, doesn't know if he ever could.

Something was resonating in Soobin's ears then, soft enough that you could hear it faintly, and still searing, for it to pierce through something in his chest. 

A lyre. He realized belatedly. The strings plucked with precision, that even to an untrained ear, you could hear the great care and deliberateness of each sound.

When the blazes of the light began to dim, and the song faded into nothing, where the only thing illuminating their small dorm room is the single flickering light bulb and the only sound that could be heard is the echo of that song---

Soobin sucked in a breath and took in the sight in front of him.

Beomgyu was dressed in the way the statues from Greek myths and legends could only be: a light, white material had wrapped itself around his neck, long enough to cover his hips and below, and it dangled loosely, exposing an expanse of skin Soobin never thought he would see. 

And rested atop of his roommate's head was a helmet, glinting with the same color of the light that had shone proudly around their room earlier, adorned with little wings by the side, barely fluttering. 

But this was still Beomgyu, with his dark locks fanning just atop his cheekbones, long lashes that flicker up at him with a glimpse of brown irises, and a thundering laugh that sets Soobin's heart in motion.

So Soobin had blinked at him, and murmured the first things on his mind. 

"Dude, you're naked."

**-**

In the wake of Beomgyu’s confession hitting Soobin with the weight of a big fat whale crashing down on him (a total of two weeks for him to register it), Soobin had promised he wouldn’t delve too much into it. That his roommate being the indelible god of merchants, messengers, borders, sports, and apparently, thievery, and that everything makes sense as to why his toothbrush of two years went missing months ago.

“Is that me?” 

Soobin’s heart nearly stops. He turns to the voice, glares at the beaming young man --- god? _Young man_ \--- behind him. 

Soobin starts with a sigh, “I get that you gods do not abide by mortals' perception of speed or whatever ---”

“I’m actually the fastest of all gods,” Beomgyu interjects. “God of travel and all.”

“Yeah, whatever, and I get that you’re excited to finally use your godly powers and all, but keep it down a notch? I might get a cardiac arrest before I graduate and I only have months left.”

“Sorry,” Beomgyu giggles, and the laughter rings in Soobin’s ears, in the way wind chimes do. “But you were searching up about me! I’m pretty cool, right?”

“Yeah, I was just reading about how you threw a house at someone who didn’t want to attend a wedding.”

“And turned them into a tortoise,” the god finishes for him brightly. “Pretty cool, right?”

Soobin squints at him. 

“Sure,” he concedes. A slow, unsure drawl to his words. “Yeah, okay, pretty cool.”

Beomgyu nods happily, and with no warning, he inserts himself into the little space that was Soobin’s chair, his right leg dangling over Soobin’s lap. 

He’s terribly close, and if Soobin were any other man, he would keep his attention on the proximity, the almost lack of space between the two of them. 

But he’s almost used to this now, and all he can think about is that Beomgyu, in all of his godly being, smells like newly opened package boxes and metal in coins. 

And cheeseburgers. 

“You seemed like a troublemaker back then,” Soobin comments. 

He scrolls through the webpage more, his brain barely processing the words his eyes skim through, wants to focus on the hum on Beomgyu’s tongue as he swings his legs back and forth, with no mind to Soobin’s own crashing against his. 

Beomgyu frowns, “What do you mean? I was the favorite of Lord Zeus… after his mistresses… and Athena… and maybe Artemis --- okay! But all I know is that I’m higher than Apollo, that bastard sun god.”

Soobin tilts his head. 

"Is that a big deal?"

Beomgyu looks at him as if he asked him if water was wet and he rolls his eyes. 

"Well, yeah?" Beomgyu pinches his cheeks, and Soobin smacks his arm. "Is he not the ruler of Olympus? Of course, I have to put myself on their radar!"

Soobin hums, "Well, if it helps --- you're my favorite, Beomgyu."

In tune with the look of horror that crosses Beomgyu's face, the sky begins to rumble with thunder, a flash of lightning by their window.

"Idiot!" 

Beomgyu hisses, but his fingers lace around his, and he squeezes it tight. 

The tremors are only slight but they're there and Soobin doesn't hesitate to lean in closer, wrapping his arms around the god's waist nuzzling his face in the crook of his roommate's shoulder.

**-**

As it turns out, Hermes, the god of _everything cool,_ could do almost anything, even things not written down in his list of specialties.

"I thought you said you could only pick locks?" 

Soobon peers curiously over to the tiny god of alleged lock picking, where was crouched over the floor to fix the door hinges, that Soobin may or may not have broken.

Long story short: He had been blasting none other than Girls' Generation in his shower, and not lucky for him, it was _Catch Me If You Can_ playing.

Soobin, immersed in the high buzz of the choreo, had flailed his limbs around too much, knocked the door off its joints and it had slammed into the wall across while he stood there in the shower, ready to be casted for _Naked and Afraid_.

"I always attend Hephaestus's biannual workshops. Never missed a day," Beomgyu explains, tongue poking out as he screws on a bolt on the hinges. "Lucky for us, Hephaestus taught us about fixing doors in 1785 --- or was it 1875? Somewhere around Genghis Khan. I don't know, I only keep records of things I care about."

He couldn't have been way more off on that, but Soobin doesn't correct him, keeps mum and only watches, because immortals are bound to forget about everything anyways, like how last week Beomgyu forgot that Soobin had to review for exams and took him out window shopping to the Nike store. 

("I know her," Beomgyu muses, eyes narrowed into a glare upon seeing the logo. 

Soobin tilts his head, "Nike?"

"Goddess of victory and all that." Beomgyu rolls his eyes with a scoff. "Yeah, right. All she was was an overzealous bastard.")

"Oh." Soobin's lips part into a gape. "Right. You've met other gods before too, huh."

Beomgyu looks at him as if he were stupid, "Duh? Soobin. What part of messenger of the gods did you not get?" 

"I don't know? I thought you were just some kind of mailboy throwing newspapers at people's doorsteps? I literally don't know, Beomgyu." 

"I'll have you know I run many jobs around here, there, _everywhere!_ " Beomgyu tells him, matter-of-factly as he chips in one of the hinges' screws in between his teeth. That can't be sanitary, but can gods get diseases? "I help Morpheus with dreams, I guide souls to hell _and_ I deliver the Lord of the Underworld's bills and letters to his spouse during spring!"

(As it turns out, true to his millennial icon, Lord Hermes is juggling about 83 jobs on the side of being the mailboy of the gods, tells Soobin it's the reason why he's _everywhere_ he looks, and he's not wrong. He briefly wonders if rent on Olympus is that high.)

Soobin's nose scrunches up, "What bills does the Lord of the Underworld even have to pay?" 

"Mhm. Kai's dorm wifi is always down so he set up his own, thinks that the underground should get in on this action too."

Silence, as Soobin's mind processes the information, momentarily buffers, and he sputters. 

"Kai is the Lord of Hades?" 

"Yes! Now, quiet! Kai may be your baby, but he's still the Lord of the Underworld!"

The dots connect themselves: bright and alleged Industrial Biology student, Kai, who always never seems to run out of cash in his wallet, and his boyfriend: sweet and alleged Applied Corporate Management student, Taehyun, who always likes to give Soobin fresh bread from his mother's _wheat business_. 

("Your mom made this?" Soobin's eyes are wide from the first bite of the bread. Just from that alone, he's on Cloud Nine, bouncing from there to Cloud Ten, and to Cloud Sixty-Eight. "This bread --- absolute perfection. What's her secret?"

Taehyun shrugs, a tremble of his lips that Soobin misses. 

"She grows her own plants," Taehyun tells him.)

Soobin gasps, "Does that mean Taehyun is Persephone?"

"Hey! Hey! You're lucky Taehyun really likes you. You -- mortals -- don't just go around screaming the Lady of Underground's true name!" Beomgyu shushes him. "We, gods, hear everything! _Everything!_ Especially Taehyun, and you don't wanna piss him off. Just say Taehyun!" 

Beomgyu points the butt of the screwdriver at his face. It's a threat and Soobin doesn't know how to react. 

Even with the knowledge that his roommate is one of the twelve Olympians himself, Soobin thinks he should --- but he absolutely cannot feel the intimidation or the fear of knowing he could be obliterated any moment, only endearment at how tiny the god of merchants is.

"Okay," Soobin says slowly. "So, just Taehyun?"

Beomgyu hums and nods in approval. 

"So, Yeonjun and I are the only mortals? Or is he like, what? The god of parties and alcohol?"

Beomgyu scoffs, "Oh, please. Dionysus? That dude's too busy with his rundown pub downtown and making everyone go insane. Yeonjun's just a cool mortal."

A satisfactory answer. He'll always be a clueless mortal, and he'll gladly take on the title with Yeonjun.

"Is that so?" 

"Yeah, but he was Perseus in his past life, had to pick him up from Elysium after a couple of centuries, kept whining on about how he wanted to be in the Isles of Blest," Beomgyu rants on, millenia of frustration dragging on his tone, "kept going' _I wanna be reborn!', 'I wanna see what Achilles saw too!'_ Gods, if you asked me, all he needed was a day trip to the Bahamas." 

Soobin grins, "I could totally hear it in Yeonjun's voice."

"Yeah?" Beomgyu glances up at him, the corners of his lips curling up, "Well, you're totally right. Dude wouldn't shut up."

In the span of an hour, Soobin finds himself cross-legged on the floor, on the spot beside Beomgyu, finds himself watching his dear roommate, finds himself listening intently to the tales through his existence, going from the first Titan War to the revolution roused by Rizal, from the birth of the youngest Olympian, Dionysus, to the birth of Beyoncé, from the story of how the Lord and Lady of the Underground came to be to how Theodora and Justinian came to be the greatest lovers in all of history. 

("Gosh, that was a mess," Beomgyu shudders. "Demeter kept threatening to turn me into a plant. I didn't even do anything! I was just delivering the letters! It's not my fault her child thinks she's a lunatic! I would've eaten those pomegranate seeds too!"

The mint plant perched on their bedroom windowsill extends out a stem and thwacks Beomgyu on the face.)

All those stories ring true in Soobin's ears, could see and hear every person in every word, could feel all the centuries of intertwined tales, building up in every story, all in Beomgyu's eyes.

He looks at his roommate, all pretty as his dark hair falls over his face, lips twisted into a focused grimace, complete immersion in fixing their bathroom door. 

In their three years together --- three years out of his twenty-four years, and three years out of Beomgyu's immortality, Soobin wonders _._

In an eternal life that has stories of history to tell, Soobin _wonders_.

In their shared little dorm, with the two of them perched in their own hallway, with their bathroom door being fixed, with their winged sandals flittering across the room, Soobin wonders what those eyes see now.

**-**

The celebration for graduation comes to Soobin in many forms. 

Everyone around him is in tears, and he's laughing, but he feels hot tears drip down his cheeks, and he's finally _free_ , weeks to months to years of all-nighters, cramped wrists, emerging deadlines, reviews at 24 hour cafes, and 2am noodles. 

It all boils down to this.

Yeonjun, former famed Greek hero, now an instructor in the dance academy in the next town over and the best person Soobin knows, plants a big fat kiss on his cheek, breaking into laughter when Soobin smacks him with his cap. 

He ruffles his hair, a smile on his face, "Proud of you." 

Kai hands him the largest bouquet he has ever laid his eyes on, Herculean in all aspects, from the arrangement to the massive ribbon tied around it. 

At the bewilderment on Soobin's face, he laughs and places it in his arms, "Congratulations, Soobin." 

"Where did you get this?" 

Kai looks sheepish, fumbles with his fingers, and the glint of cerulean on his fingers tells enough tales.

"My husband grew them himself," he says. "Just for this day. Made sure they won't ever die on you." 

Never mind the fact that he's face to face with the King of the Underworld, Kai is still his baby, and he has all the rights to pinch his cheeks. 

"You guys are cute."

Taehyun gives him a bottle of wine with the sweetest smile and a similar gleam of lavender on his finger. 

"We'll follow you next year," he tells Soobin, assured and soft. 

Soobin cocks an eyebrow, "Do gods have needs for diplomas?" 

"I have exactly 786 and 787 by next year," Taehyun shrugs. "Believe or not, I am a licensed doctor… back in the 1940s." 

"Is that so?"

"We just come around every few years. We like to check in on the updates in the education system." Taehyun is looking at him with mirth dancing in his eyes. "Glad we chose this year." 

Beomgyu doesn't come to him after the ceremony, and Soobin assumes he had other godly matters to attend to.

Whether he's delivering letters, guiding souls to the Underground, helping out with dreams or handling his trade business of sandals, Soobin knows not to ask, knows that Beomgyu will still come back.

He's a god. He's everywhere.

And Soobin's surrounded by all the other people that he loves, and he's smiling, laughing at everything, feeling the pride and rush of everything he's done for the diploma in his hands, he can't help but feel a pang of something missing in his chest.

It's during the celebratory dinner --- they're in some rundown pub in the next town over, but Soobin can't really complain when he's had finished one bottle and three cheeseburgers as he watches all his friends rave on in the mix of tears, snot, alcohol, and saliva --- that Beomgyu materializes in front of him, donned in an iridescent bronze colored --- or actual bronze suit, a wide grin on his face.

"You look like a Hermes."

Soobin comments on that, his head whirring at the sight: brass-colored clothes, dark curls partitioned to the side, full lips tinted with pink.

Beomgyu rolls his eyes, "Duh. Who else could be Hermes but me, Soobin?"

Soobin shakes his head, allows a small smile to crawl up on his lips.

"Congrats, by the way," Beomgyu tells him, smiles all pretty up at him. "I was there when Odysseus was grasping at every straw he had to get home. That took ten years even with _my_ help but I’m way more proud of you than I ever did of him.”

Soobin tilts his head.

“Nice metaphor but all I am is a random college student who finally graduated,” Soobin points out, an airy laugh coming out of his lips. 

Truly, he’s flattered. For every single time he almost drowned in a bowl of chicken ramen broth and for the times he poured his coffee into his sneakers out of sleep depravity, it certainly feels like something Odysseus couldn't do when he's juggling twenty outputs -- in a week. 

But he's no one special. He's just a college student who got lucky, not a hero nor a martyr.

"Yeah but Odysseus was a big old snake ---"

Soobin furrows his brows, "You're literally the god of liars and thieves." 

"And," Beomgyu pauses, his lips twitching upwards, "you're my best friend. Of course, I'd like you more than that bastard Odysseus."

Oh.

It's an old rundown bar, with only three functioning lightbulbs that don't look like they're about to be blasted into pieces any moment and the two karaoke machines that do the rest of the job, and the three bulbs on the counter, only illuminating the small space here.

And the lights bathe Beomgyu in its faint glow, warm yellow spilling all over him, and there's gold.

It's in the brass-colored suit that glints gold in the dim incandescence of the bar, where the hues give prominence to the color of the god's skin, to the expanse of skin peeking through the thin dress shirt.

It's in his smile, serpentine and terribly pretty. It's in the curve of his jaw, the slope of his perfectly shaped nose, the curls on his lips, and --- 

It's in his eyes, flecks of gold gleaming in brown as they stare at him, warm and homely that carry weight that can only be for eternal beings.

Soobin hums, turns his gaze to his glass of whiskey, "You really are a god, huh?" 

"Wha --- you just realized that?" Beomgyu gives an indignant huff. "Did it just process in your head now?" 

Soobin doesn't say anything, only shrugs. 

Silence falls on them, not unwelcome. It's a familiar air, the one found in living room spooning, the one found in walks outside with winged sandals, the one found in his and Beomgyu's little dorm ---

He turns to Beomgyu, whose eyes are already on him, wide and bright. 

A smile makes its way on Soobin's face.

"You're my best friend too."

**-**

For his graduation gift, Beomgyu takes him to a multitude of places all around the world, no charge as Soobin realizes he's dealing with the god of travel and commerce.

("Duh, why would you pay for any of that when you have _Hermes?_ " Beomgyu had rolled his eyes, donned in a wide brimmed straw hat and a thin green shirt with a finish of matching sunglasses, tinted with green, out of place in their frigid surroundings.

Soobin was ready for an argument, opening his mouth to start a fight before Beomgyu had snapped his fingers and promptly teleported them.)

It's exciting, to see places Soobin thought he would only ever look at from brochures and photos, for Beomgyu to give him such a gift like this.

They go to La Union, where they spent the night immersed in a small concert by the beach, sleep in a small room of the resort after a meal of pakbet, and build sand castles the mornings after --- where Beomgyu attempts to teach him a simple float by the waters and Soobin merely clings onto him out of fear.

To Paris, where they spend the night in their five star hotel room feasting on all the pastries they've amassed in the past hours, added in with a little bit of wine --- or a whole lot of wine, going deep into the evening, finding themselves conversing about anything they could rack their brains for.

And they go to Arcadia, where Beomgyu was born and raised, the god guiding and pinpointing the exact spots of his stories.

("And that's where I stole Apollo's cows." Beomgyu gestures to a far off place Soobin has to squint to see. "After I invented the lyre five minutes I was born, of course."

Soobin blinks, "Five minutes after you were born?")

It's all spontaneous, and for someone who claims to be a homebody --- would rather sleep in bed than grab a snack in their kitchen -- Soobin's been having a great time running through the what the world has to offer him

The only thing though, with every destination. They go to the museum and there's always _one thing_ Beomgyu makes a point to show him. Not that it's annoying or anything, but rather --

"So..." 

Soobin turns to Beomgyu beside him, eyebrow raised in question. 

" _Dongs?"_

The god doesn't seem to notice him though. His eyes are lit up by the display in front of them, only a thin barrier of class keeping Beomgyu from snatching them to himself.

("Now, why would I do that?" Beomgyu huffed when Soobin voiced out these thoughts. "I'm a god! I want people to look at me?")

"Yeah, dongs," Beomgyu says brightly, gaze fixated on the herma in front of them, where a statue lies, shaped in the face of a bearded god that is Hermes --- that is _Beomgyu._

Hermes's face, and… dong.

"Were the dongs… non-negotiable?" Soobin asks, brows furrowed. This was already their third time setting their eyes upon these curious artifacts and Soobin's head just can't wrap around the fact that this pillar with a head and a dong is his roommate.

Beomgyu shrugs, "It helped the people in travelling."

Soobin blinks, and decides to steer the topic aways, before it would get any weird again, and finds himself pointing at whatever, "I haven't read up on Alexander the Great before."

"Alexander the Great… if you ask me, he's just Alexander the Pretty Alright." 

Beomgyu scoffs but allows himself to indulge in the conversation anyways.

**-**

Their last night is spent in one of plenty of Beomgyu's summer houses in Wales when the god of merchants lived among the mortals as a drunkard nobleman with a good amount of cattle, this one apparently bought in the early 1800s, where, in Beomgyu's terms, it was the golden age for Lord Byron to be banging out every person on the street. 

"How was it?" 

Beomgyu emerges from the bathroom, hair still damp from the shower, a dark blue towel wrapped around his neck and a matching set of musical themed pyjamas robed his lithe frame, the long sleeves dangling with a glimpse of his fingers. 

A familiar view but foreign in the warm lights of the manor. 

The bedroom was larger than a whole floor in their dorm building, and they both opted to use the space to the fullest of their wishes. (Or just Soobin. Beomgyu's a god, after all, he could do this one anyday.)

The area was cozied up with a massive array of quilt blankets, feather pillows, and a set of gundam puzzles for them to build once they get their swig in alcohol and pizza --- which Lord Hermes now claims he is a patron god of now. Specifically triple cheese pizza. 

Soobin blinks at him, slowly lowers the old 80's magazine onto his lap, "Oh. I didn't start the gundams yet. I was waiting for you."

"Not that, stupid," Beomgyu laughs, hurling his towel at Soobin's face. He lets it be. No way to win out of that, when your opponent is the god of athletes. "I meant, how was the trip?"

A smile tugs on his lips. There can only be one answer for that. 

"The most fun I've ever had," Soobin says, truthfully. But he gulps down the inured fear rising in his throat, and he exhales, "I just hope this wouldn't be the last I'd ever see of you."

He doesn't miss his roommate's eyes widening, and there's a pause.

"Now, where'd you run off to? To think those things," Beomgyu chuckles --- and Beomgyu --- he can be quiet, knows when to keep his words in, but there's a shift to the drawl of his words. "I'm the god of everything cool, Soobin. I'm everywhere. I'll always be looking after you."

Soobin sucks in a breath, doesn't take note of how shaky it sounds. "But what about me, Beomgyu?"

Gods are fickle. No matter how noble they claim their causes are, Soobin's read up all of them: trials teetering on near death and curses to last beyond a lifetime just because of petty jealousy.

They're almighty beings but they're just as volatile and begrudging as mortals. 

And as much as Soobin trusts Beomgyu, as much as he loves him, Beomgyu's still a god, a being meant to outlive him, a being before and after him.

He knows how the stories go, and he knows how they end.

"You're my best friend, Soobin," Beomgyu starts. "Surely, you know what that means? To me?"

"And you've had more lovers than you have had friends." He's unable to stop the wryness of his words. His voice cracks on the next, "Just tell me, Beomgyu --- is this --- is this a goodbye?"

Something flashes in Beomgyu's eyes, not friendly, but not unkind either, and even with all his knowledge, it's a reminder for Soobin who he's talking to.

Beomgyu smiles, doesn't quite reach his eyes, but there's still warmth and it's enough of a relief..

"... Let's talk about this in the morning.," he says, and it's a familiar voice, a hushed one that let Soobin know that he was prying himself open, letting himself be seen. 

"Good night, Soobin."

The lights dim, and the bed dips next to Soobin. 

The heat radiating off the god is there, so close for Soobin to grasp, but he stifles a noise of frustration and turns to the other side.

Soobin doesn't get any dreams that night, and he blames the sinking feeling inside his gut on the lack of their gundam building tonight 

**-**

The next morning, Soobin wakes up in his family bedroom, in Korea, and lined up in front of him, perched neatly at the end of his bed, are all the finished gundam pieces from last night. 

The first thought, as he rubs his eyes, is: _Goddamit, I should've finished that_.

The second one, jolts him awake, and he springs up from his bed, fear lurching dangerously in his chest.

_Beomgyu ---_

"Relax, I'm here."

A soft murmur of a voice, one that Soobin would recognize even if he had gone decades without hearing it. 

He turns to face Beomgyu, leaning against his wall, the one with game posters plastered all over it. His eyes dance with their frequent amusement as he scans Soobin's room. 

"You're here." 

The words are spilled out, breathless, and Soobin couldn't add anything else, could only blink at his roommate in front of him.

"Yeah? Duh," Beomgyu chuckles. "You hate leaving an argument without conclusions. You'd cry."

Soobin ignores the jab at him, "Then why'd you turn off lights early last night?"

"Oh, I... wanted you to sleep before I assembled all these gundams."

"What?" Soobin furrows his eyebrows, holds back the urge to give Beomgyu a sucker punch. "Dude, you're a god. You could've done that in a snap of a finger."

Beomgyu shrugs, "Yeah, well, Apollo's trying to get the patron god of gundam assembly title and I wanted to do it first --- but that's not the point right now."

Despite the lurching sensation in his gut, Soobin laughs and gestures to his bed, "You wanna take a seat?"

Beomgyu takes up the offer, making himself at home on Soobin's blue sheets, and for a god worshipped by many, for generations, he looks massively tiny surrounded by all of Soobin's pillows and ---

That's cute. 

"So, last night," Beomgyu starts. It's tense and awkward, something the two of them haven't had it a long time. "You -- said something about me leaving? You?"

Soobin sucks in a breath. 

It's awkward. Something they've never been, they've always managed to understand each other without a word but he supposes this is another step, and he starts with the simplest words he could garner. "You've had… your fair share of lovers and friends, mortals and not alike."

"That's right." 

Beomgyu cocks his head to the side, but he nods, always listening. Whether it's a habit of a god or Beomgyu, Soobin doesn't think he cares.

"And I'm sure you loved at least some of them."

Beomgyu quickly interjects. For a god with time always on his side, he moves swiftly, not letting every precious drop of the minutes pass by in vain.

"No. Not really." 

Beomgyu says with a shake of his head. "I've never… felt that way to anyone. I mean --- at least, I thought I did."

He glances up at him, through the thick of his long lashes, but it's impossible to miss the glint of bronze in those eyes, it always is. 

"Soobin, I thought I knew love and I thought I had it, and then I saw the greatest of lovers, I saw love from how it was." 

Beomgyu sucks in a breath, and his hands begin to tremble, and it's by complete instinct but Soobin doesn't have the adequacy to care when his own hands shoot out to hold them.

"And then I thought I could never have what they had… until… you."

"What?"

Soobin falters. It should make sense, but the words pass through his ears, not registering it.

"Even after they stopped writing about me, I know with my record --- with any god's record --- it's not pretty and I'll admit: I sucked," Beomgyu laughs drily. "I left lovers and friends --- my own children, mortal or not. I never intended to stay because I was a god. I have more things to do than that. "

He notices the sour look on Soobin's face and he chuckles, "I know. Asshole."

"Yeah." Soobin scrunches his nose at him. "Ass."

"I know," Beomgyu clicks his tongue. "But, then I met you, some broke college kid who looked like they never had any sleep since the moment they were born. Originally, I was just pretending to be your roommate for fun but then you grew on me and now, we're here."

Soobin narrows his eyes at him. He can't tell if this is still a serious conversation or not. "... I can't believe that was your first impression of me."

"Yeah, well, that's you except you're a graduate now so you're just some broke kid who happens to be my best friend that I'm in love with." 

Soobin blinks. Once -- thrice -- five times.

"Oh," he says, a bit dumbly and a complete loss for words. " _Oh_." 

"And I know you feel the same way and it's not just because Aprhodite barged into our dorm room once just to tell me that ---"

"Wait, who barged into our room ---" Soobin tries to cut him off.

" --- because I already knew and I was happy and I wanted you to know _me_ first before I do something stupid like kiss you or something." 

Beomgyu finishes all of it in one breath, eyes wide and glinting with expectations.

Soobin furrows his brows. 

"You think kissing me is stupid?"

The god blanches, totally ungodlike but totally Beomgyu, "Yes! But also no! Because I still really wanna kiss you! But we're having this conversation and before we kiss and you should stop focusing on the unnecessary things --- you have to know: I'm here to stay."

Suddenly, the air shifts, and the weight on Soobin's shoulders feels like it's been both lifted off and added on. 

He looks at his fingers --- doesn't think he could handle looking into bronze colored eyes --- and sees them still laced together with Beomgyu's on his lap, and his voice is quiet when he utters, "You mean that?"

Beomgyu, whether it be the god in him or just him, rushes to his words as fast as lightning.

"Yeah. I do."

Soobin nods, and the tremors in his hands start to make themselves known now, but he shoves that thought away.

"Okay, then…" He sucks in a breath, untangles their fingers, and he turns his body to face Beomgyu again, to see bronze gazes and pink lips. 

"May I?"

He gets his answer with a lurch forward, his lips captured. 

It's open-mouthed and not good for Soobin's heart, and the taste of cheeseburgers with milkshakes lingers on Soobin's tongue as they pull away.

"Three years pass like seconds to me but trust me, I've been wanting to do that for so long," Beomgyu says against his lips, mirth dancing in his eyes with a twinkle.

"You're not the only one."

Soobin laughs, and he relishes in this moment with the feeling of Beomgyu's lips on him.

**-**

From the lack of gundam assemblies last night, Soobin had demanded for new ones, pointing out to his now boyfriend Choi Beomgyu that it was highly unfair for him build all those gundams without him when it was supposed to be the highlight of their trip.

(Beongyu cocked an eyebrow at that, "I thought the herms were the highlight of the trip."

"It would've been if I wasn't forced to look at all the penises," Soobin says, ordering his fifth gundam piece. Beomgyu doesn't really mind how much. He's the god of merchants and commerce and shady rich businessmen. 

"They were sacred pieces, Soobin."

"And I respect that." He turns to look at the god beside him, where he finds him jutting his lips out into a pout. Soobin ignores that. Cute, but that doesn't work on him. "But gundams? They don't have dongs for me to look at.")

So, now they find themselves here, in Soobin's bedroom, putting together gundams with cheeseburgers and milkshakes surrounding them like a summoning circle. 

It's nice. This is nice.

It's nothing out of the ordinary things that they do. It feels like nothing has changed and nothing has. Except for the fact that they have each other's consent to make out any time of day they want to. 

That, and they also get to hold hands --- _romantically_.

"Question," Soobin starts, finally prying his eyes off the gundam. "Did you really mean what you said when you never loved anyone?"

Beomgyu lifts his head up and he corrects him, "Until now."

Soobin rolls his eyes.

" _Until now_."

Beomgyu smiles, cheeks pink as they bunch up. It's not at all unwarranted when Soobin promptly pinches them.

"Well, yeah ---," he breaks off with a light, airy laugh. Almost shy. "I thought it was just a god thing but well, look at how that turned out for me."

The words warm Soobin's insides completely, and he can't help the ache in his cheeks when he responds.

"Poor you," he says. "When I'm dead, you're gonna have a hard time, huh?"

"Yeah, like you're getting rid of me that easily." He shoves a cheeseburger in his mouth, eyes narrowed into a leer at him. "I'm a psychopomp, Soobin. I also have a part time job in the Underworld, so you'll be seeing me everywhere."

Soobin hums thoughtfully, "And if I choose to be reborn?"

Beomgyu grins, teethy and bright, and he decides right then that he doesn't mind spending the eternity of his soul seeing that sight.

"Then I'll find your stupid mortal vessel again. Stupid."

It sounds like a promise.

"Save it for when I'm dead," he tells him. "Right now, you're stuck with a broke college graduate."

Beomgyu gives him a kiss, soft and chaste to warm Soobin, and he pulls away with a smile.

"Wouldn't have it any other way." 

**-**

_// bonus_

Anyone would think being the messenger of the gods, along with being the god of everything else cool would be an easygoing and simple task. 

It just so happens that Beomgyu is just that darn great at his job and he enjoys the praise and the thrill of his job, travelling to multiple countries and realms and juggling other jobs on the side. He didn't inspire the concept of Barbie careers for nothing.

He worked hard to get where he is right now, albeit being the son of Zeus, he _had_ to. There were only two options: be a bastard son and have Hera despise you till you eventually die or prove yourself to be useful to the world and have Hera despise you for the rest of your immortality. 

(Lucky for Beomgyu, the Queen of Olympus had become a bit more lenient with him over the millennials, but he also has a hunch it had something to do with him accidentally seeing the contents of her _raunchier_ letters to the Lord of the Skies.)

He likes every aspect of his job; delivering mail, guiding travellers, giving thieves a thumbs-up every now and then, and posting selfies of him in front of every hospital that had mistakenly used his staff, _Caduceus,_ for their logo. 

He's been doing this for ages now and the routine never gets any boring. 

But, even for a god who has lived through wars, both through gods and mortals, there are still things he won't ever get used to. 

It was a child, no more than five.

And Beomgyu's seen them far too many times, in times of famine, drought, and war --- in conditions unfathomable even to gods, and in the worst of times, when he closes his eyes, Beomgyu could still hear them, their questions and cries ringing in his ears.

How funny, for a god of his standing, to shake at such notions.

"Hey." 

His roommate greets upon his arrival. He's in front of the television, watching _Kitchen Nightmares,_ Beomgyu's own blanket draped around him comfortably. They've gone past asking for permission at this point, and he can't really say he minds.

His dishevelled and totally dead blonde hair peeks out from the blanket, nose scrunched up at the food displayed at the screen. 

Even with the heaviness pulling at his chest, Beomgyu manages to pull a small smile, "Hey."

Soobin blinks at him owlishly, seems to notice the gloom trailing behind him, and he doesn't hold back. "What's wrong? Bad recit?"

As someone who was actively there when the first law records were written, there would be no way he would have gotten a bad recit, but it would always be the excuse to give when things get like this. 

"Yeah," Beomgyu sighs. He drops his bag to the floor and walks to their living room to see Gordon Ramsay scrunching up his nose at a plate of pasta. 

Soobin stares at him, a pensive look on his face. 

"You wanna talk about it?" 

Even with the greatest ability to lie, Beomgyu shakes his head. It's hard to do so in front of his roommate.

His roommate hums, "Well, come here then." 

Soobin spreads his arms out, revealing a blue sweater with a stupid Pokémon print, and it tugs a smile at Beomgyu's lips.

He lets himself fall onto them, lets the warmth seep into his godly bones, and it's nice. 

Soobin doesn't say anything, only cards his fingers through his hair, and it's nice. 

It's nice. This is nice. The nicest Beomgyu's ever felt.

He closes his eyes and lets Morpheus handle him then.

He thinks he'll stay this time around.

(Later that night, Aphrodite apparates into their room, an overjoyed grin on her face, and babbles on and on about Keats. 

Beomgyu promptly throws a pillow at her.)

**Author's Note:**

> hi hi thank u for reading
> 
> follow me on my twt: sbgyu_


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